Protecting and launching device for lifeboats



Aug. 22, 1944. SCHRGDER-NIELSEN 2,356,539

PROTECTING AND LAUNCHING DEVICE FOR LIFE BOATS Filed 00%,. 28, 1941 Patented Aug. 22, 1944 PROTECTING AND LAUNCHING DEVICE FOR LIFEBOATS Thorolf Schriider-Nielsen, Oslo, Norway; vested in the Alien Property Custodian Application October 28 In Norway 3 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in life boats, and particularly tomeans for strengthening and protecting of ships life boats under all conditions. A main object of the invention is to reduce the difiiculties arising in connection with launching during listing and rolling of the ship.

Proposed devices for overcoming these difficulties provide the side of the boat facing the 1941, Serial No. 416,884 ctober 19, 1940 with advantage be used as support for the cover of the boat and for various appliances such as masts, etc. The arrangement is suitable for use in connection with all boats on board a ship, even if they are not exactly life boats.

Ships davits of the usual kind arenot necessary on board the ship. The boat should preferably be suspended in its usual tackles or wire to a point on board the ship which is fixed in relash p wi h rem v le pp i n e sliding or rolling 10 tion to the shi or has a limited movement s0 against the side of the ship. Such appliances that it during the lowering and hoisting of the have, however, the disadvantage, that the boat boat along the ships side always will be well must be freed from them when coming to water, inside of the point in the boat to which the sus- Which is difficult especially under the adverse pending wire or tackle is fastened. The angle of conditions under which they often must be used, the suspending means thus will ensure that the and further, they offer only a temporary protec' boat is being kept against the ships side with a tion of doubtful value. certain force which limits the tendency of the According to the present invention the boat boat to swing during rolling of the ship. on both sides of its center, preferably where the In order to secure easy launching of the boat breadth of the boat differs only little from its from the deck there may in known way be prolargest breadth, is provided with a metal ring vided inclined planes for the rolling members (or a ring of other suitable material) encircling If the height between the decks of the ship is .the boat at right angles to its longitudinal axis sufiicient for accommodation of boats ,of this and being formed with ring tracks permanently kind, they may with advantage be placed on a connected to the boat so that the rings may be lower deck, whereby the higher deck may serve considered as parts of the same. for fastening of the block serving for carrying The rings are preferably provided with rollers and launching the boat. or the like between the fixed ring tracks and the The drawing illustrates various embodiments freely rotatable outer ring member enabling the of the invention. latter to roll against the ships side with little Fig. 1 is a side View of a life boat equipped with friction during the lowering and hoisting of the my improved launching and protecting device, boat. with parts broken away.

The cooperating portions of the rings may have Fig. 2 is a horizontal detail section and Fig. 3 channel formed, T-formed, box formed or other is a vertical cross-section, taken respectively on suitable cross section and are .placed on the boat the lines 22 and 3-3 of Fig. 1. at a suitable distance one from the other. Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view, showing in full The rotatable ring should not be too small but lines the position assumed by the improved should have ample clearance for its movement. launching and protecting device while the boat A construction wherein only two rollers or a rests upon a deck and in dotted lines positions limited number of rollers bear when the ring is assumed by said device while the boat is being under pressure is of advantage, as then a, minor launched from the usual drop davits. deformation of the ring will not cause serious Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view similar toFig. 4, trouble. but with the boat suspended by wires from a fixed If the boat is not built in such a way, for insupport on the deck and the protecting device stance provided with a double bottom, that the modified in shape. rings may be located in a recess around the boat Fig. 6 is a detail side elevation and so that they extend only partly beyond the out- Fig. 7 is a pl n vi o a rin jointside of the boat, there should be arranged In the drawing, the ring I is provided with bolts around the boat immediately forward and aft 3 for journalling rollers 2 circumferentially of the rings belts of wood, cork or the like with paced therearound. streamline shaped cross section, located inside The ring is preferably made in separate parts of the outer periphery of the ring so as to reduce connected one with the other, and rotates around the water resistance of the ring during travel the boat in guide track 5 which in the embodiof the boat through the water. For protection ment shown consists of a ring with channel and strengthening of the boat the device may formed cross section encircling the boat and being connected to the same by means of plates 4. If the ring I, as mentioned above, is made in a plurality of parts linked together, the guide track 5 need not be exactly circular. This embodiment is particularly suitable where the boat during the lowering and hoisting must pass open decks in the ships side, as the ring can roll over such openings. The element 6 is a streamline shaped belt on one side of the track [portion of the ring. Between the rings the boat is provided with a double bottom I.

The boat 8 rests with its keel 9 and side keels l fixed to the guide track against which it is also stayed at higher levels. The channeled guide track 5 is shown in the form of a closed ring, the sides of which form guides for the movable ring I and the bight portion of which serves as track for the rollers 2 mounted in the ring I. The boat is suspended by means of tackles or wires I3 in both ends of the boat.

Fig. 5 shows a boat with the device according to the invention, suspended by wires Na in the fixed point Ila in the support l2a mounted on the deck of the ship. The boat rests on pivoted chocks 2|] on the deck. When the chocks are knocked down, the boat can by means of the wire l4 connected to the suspending wire [30 at its lower end be lowered until the Wire l3a comes to a vertical position. At the continued lowering in the usual way by means ofthe wire l3a, the rings of the boat will roll on the inclined planes l6 and against the ships side. As a further measure against swingin of the boat a wire I! may in a known way be arranged vertically along the ships side, and an auxiliary wire 18 be provided, which at its lower end is connected to the wire 13a and at its upper end to the interconnected blocks I9, one of which runs on the suspending wire Ba and the other on the wire ll, thus keeping these wires at a fixed distance one from the other.

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 4 the boat is suspended by means of a tackle to the top Nb of a usual drop davit 12b. I5 is a usual screw device for dropping of the davit. The movement of the davit is limited to the position shown in dotted lines. The boat is lowered by slacking the tackle I31) and dropping of the davit, whereunder the protecting and launching device of the boat, as described here above will remain in contact with the inclined plane IE or the ship's side. The tackle 2| is an auxiliary tackle which if desired may be used for further securing of the boat against swinging during rolling of the ship, 00- operating with the vertical wire I! in a manner similar that of the block [9 of Fig. 5. The launching and protecting device mounted on the boat is in this figure the same as in Figs. 1-3.

In Figs. 6 and 7 is shown a preferred method of simultaneously journalling rollers 2 and joining adjacent sections of the ring I. By providing a, plurality of ring sections linked together by bolts 3, the rotation of the rings is facilitated even though the tracks 5 are not circular or if portions of the ring have been bent or damaged to a slight extent during previous usage.

What I claim is 1. A protecting and launching device for boats comprising a plurality of ring tracks permanently connected to the outer side of the boat and encircling the boat transversely of its longitudinal axis at spaced intervals where the diameter is only slightly less than the largest breadth, and a plurality of rings carrying spaced rollers hearing upon said tracks, said rings being freely rotatable about the boat and adapted .to present a substantially smooth outer bearing surface at all times.

2. A protecting and launching device for boats as recited in claim 1 wherein the ring tracks are formed as outwardly-open channel members and the rings are formed as inwardly-open channel members of lesser width than said tracks and with side walls extending within the channels of said tracks. v

3. A protecting and launching device for boats as recited in claim 1 wherein the ring tracks are formed as outwardly-open channel members and the rings are formed in journalled sections joined together by pins, which pins also serve as journals for said rollers.

THOROLF SCI-IRbDER-NIELSEN. 

